Rush
by Hearts And Stuff
Summary: I'm out. You hear me? I'm tired of this. We've been at this for three years straight now. I don't care anymore. I'm going to forget all about what happened, starting from the day you left me on the bench, to the day you came back, from the day you said you loved me, to the day our child died. [SasuSaku]


Naruto hopped over the fence, dashing towards his destination with all his might. The dust left trails of his quick leave as he urged his feet again to go faster. He knew she would scold him when she sees his appearance; fresh out of Suna, along with the sand in his hair, dripping sweat, and a darker tan.

When the messenger bird delivered a hand-written letter from the most respected medic of the Hidden Leaf, Naruto jumped out of his chair of the Suna Council Room and leapt outside from the nearest window. Sand conveniently raised high to cushion his fall, but Naruto was in such a confused state of mind that he did not thank the Kazekage.

A three-day journey was cut into almost two days as he ran. Every time he thought about resting on a tree branch, fear made his legs up and running. Blood rushed three times faster than it usually did, his heart pumped frantically, and a thin air of crimson almost enveloped his body were it not for the appearance of the front gates of his village. He pumped dangerous levels of chakra into his legs once more.

Naruto sped faster towards the hospital. He busted the doors open and bumped into ten or so people until he got to the counter. Disastrous thoughts and worst case scenarios had been flooding his brain ever since he left her side, and it showed on his face.

"_Where is she?"_ He growled with a slightly maniacal look. His pupils were dilated and canines sharper than normal. The nurse shakily pointed to the left. "Third floor, s-sir. Room 308."

Naruto ran back outside. He knew the interior of the hospital well enough to know that Room 308 had the window that was the third highest up, nine windows to the right from the entrance of the building. He went towards there with one jump, adrenaline pumping every second.

Not caring that the window was closed, Naruto broke through the glass. Shards exploded in. Sakura was facing him incredulously, who paused from looking at the screens of machines to the mess on the floor, but he took no notice.

He was staring in awe at the figure on the bed, who looked so frail and delicate that he was afraid to touch her. Exhaustion finally caught up with him by the time he reached her bedside. His legs fell, and he kneeled beside her. By now, the fangs had retracted, and his eyes had turned back to their bright blue. Carefully, he set his hand on her cheek, cradling her pale, pale, beautiful face. He gulped.

"Hi…Hinata?" Naruto softly called out, voice rough from constant growling and yelling the past two days," Are you awake?"

Sakura hesitantly laid a hand on his shoulder, "Naruto, she's—"

"Shut up, Sakura! _Hinata-chan!"_ He grabbed her face with both of his palms now; touching her forehead with his and sobbed, "Please…"

_I could've been here for her! _His mind grieved angrily, jaws locked tight. _I knew I should've stayed with her, I knew it, __**I knew it**__! Now she's—now she's—_

"Hello, Naruto-kun." A faint voice whispered.

Naruto immediately raised his head and looked into soft lavender eyes. She smiled. Big fat tears rolled down his cheeks.

"_HINATA-CHAN!_" He howled out, and proceeded into giving her a bone-crushing hug," I'M SO SORRY I WASN'T HERE TO TAKE CARE OF YOU WHILE YOU WERE IN PAIN AND I SWEAR, I SWEAR THAT WE WILL GO TO YOUR FAVORITE RAMEN RESTAURANT SO PLEASE FORGIVE M—"

His speech was abruptly cut off as Sakura's clipboard met the back of his head _hard_. Naruto sprawled to the floor, about to ask what the _hell_ just hit him when he saw fury. Lots and lots of fury.

Sakura wildly grinned, on the verge of livid. "You. Woke. Her. Up. _Moron._"

Naruto spoke in a fast, timidly high voice," I had to know how she was, Sakura. I had to know, I just _had _to know so I had to wake her up, you know? You know you did the same with Sasuke a while back, so I'm sure you know—"

"_DON'T TALK BACK TO ME! LEAVE HINATA AND SEE TO YOUR NEWBORN DAUGHTER, YOU STUPID HOKAGE!" _

* * *

Hyuuga Neji stared. Uzumaki Hikari stared back.

That is, until she reached out and grabbed the cartilage right in between his nostrils. Neji roughly pushed her tiny hand off and set her back into the nursery bed. Eye twitching, he walked out of the room to the hallway. Lee was still in the nursery, doing his best not to make the baby cry every time he came near. High-pitched giggling rose into the air, from the baby or from Lee, no one could tell.

"She seems to like doing that to your nose." Tenten grinned when Neji stood beside her, leaning on the white wall. He grunted passively.

"What's wrong? You should be happy she's fond of you. Not a lot of people are." She innocently smiled.

Neji glared at her. Tenten laughed.

"I'm serious! I'll show you when we walk down the street today; a bunch of people always seem to look afraid whenever we're just strolling along."

Careful not to show any emotion, he nonchalantly glanced to the side, noting to make extra sure Tenten didn't see him giving death stares in the market district. He was very much aware of the aura that Tenten gave out as she slowly grew and matured over the years, and also very much aware of the amount of attention she was given by the male population.

"Uh oh; here comes the father. Neji, I forbid you from doing anything the opposite of friendly and nice, you understand? Hikari-chan is too young for the violence of this world. Don't you look at me like that."

Naruto was grinning from ear to ear, excitement in his eyes. He stopped in front of Tenten and Neji, breathing hard from running.

"Where's—where's my daughter?" He whispered, looking at his past comrades and now ANBU captains. Tenten was about to point to the nursery room, but stopped dead at the glass view inside.

Naruto screamed.

"LEE! STOP FLINGING MY BABY IN THE AIR! _STOP!_"

"But her youth just _radiates! _Hear her laugh in joy!"

Naruto, Neji, and Tenten all ran in the room in an attempt to get the baby away from the insane ninja. Lee scampered away from them at first, but once Neji held him down and Tenten had the baby, Naruto punished the youth worshiper by giving him D-missions for a whole month and revoked his special jounin status for that time.

He walked over to Tenten and held out his arms. Tenten, cradling the newborn, finally gave Naruto a once-over.

She frowned," I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, but I'm not letting you touch your daughter until you've at least gotten a shower and changed your clothes. You are covered in grime."

A passing nurse supported Tenten's reasoning and rushed him out of the room, locking the door. Out of shock, Naruto speechlessly bobbed his lips open and shut. Incomprehensible sounds came out of him as he struggled to understand why it was Tenten inside, holding his baby, and why it wasn't him, the rightful father. Through the glass window that separated the nursery from the hallway, Tenten bashfully apologized by bowing her head.

Naruto neared the glass, flatly putting his face on his that he looked like a blowfish on Tenten's side. His blue eyes intensely stared at her. Blue eyes that silently pleaded and begged. He started sniffling. Snot ran down his nose as tears fell. Tenten pretended not to see anything, turning her back on her boss.

Neji, who was pulling a blindfolded, rope-bound Lee out of the room, grabbed Naruto's collar and proceeded to drag the two outside the hospital.

Tenten carefully laid the bubbly baby back down into her temporary cradle. A thought confused her. Hinata had only given birth two days before, and yet, when Lee was tossing Hikari-chan, the newborn acted like she was two years old. From her knowledge of infants, the bones, skin, and basic frame were too fragile to handle being literally thrown into the air at this stage.

She held out a finger, letting the baby's minute hands enclose around it. Startled at the difference of flesh, Tenten compared her dark-brown callused finger to Hikari's soft, fresh fair skin. With a tuff of dark black hair and light blue eyes, it was hard to tell if she had inherited the Byakugan or her father's mischievousness. The idea of this little, innocent girl having both traits amused her, and a smile played on her lips. Suddenly, Tenten realized the strength that Hikari was grasping her finger was definitely not a normal newborn child's strength.

She heard the door behind her quietly open and close, as well as a relieved sigh. Tenten turned around.

"Neji? Could you do me a favor?"

"…Wasn't getting rid of those two enough for you already?"

"Oh hush and use your bloodline limit for a second."

* * *

Sakura stretched her arms above her head and let out a satisfied yawn. Now that Hinata had given birth and the activity at the hospital was finally going slow, she gave herself the day off tomorrow. After working for five days in a row checking Hinata's labor pains and staying with her all night during and after birth under her _Hokage's_ orders, she was going to spend that entire day blissfully in bed.

God forbid_ anything_—human or otherwise—disturb her rest.

"I'm checking out," she called out to the front desk, dropping her clipboard off. "Make sure someone is checking on the Hokage's wife every hour or so. The last thing I need is a lecture for leaving her alone when I've been stuck to her like a monkey on a tree this entire week."

After confirming appointments and last minute paperwork, Sakura finally walked outside and welcomed the setting sun's gentle rays on her face. She might be a little fatigued, but she could always appreciate the natural beauty any day. The soft orange tones covered the entire village like a blanket. With autumn nearing, the colors of the grass and the trees matched perfectly with the sky.

Feelings swelled inside her and she raised her arms in victory.

"_Freeeeeedooooom! Yes_!" She yelled happily, launching herself onto the top of a roof and ran towards home. She welcomed the breeze that blew her hair back, but paid more attention to her surroundings. The view of the sunset above the village was even more breathtaking; she felt like she was in a sea of ginger-colored warmth. And speaking of seas, maybe she could take a vacation to the beach soon. The thought sounded so refreshing that Sakura actually closed her eyes as she sprinted roof to roof, imagining that she was swimming freely in water instead.

Daydreaming ended with she crashed into a rock-hard object, sending her into a dizzy circle and an unconscious state. Just when she was about to fall off the roof, Sasuke tiredly grabbed her arm.

He had assumed she would stop once he appeared in front of her a few yards away. What dumb ninja would close her eyes? Still, as he carried her body gently towards her apartment, he had trouble breathing properly. Either Sakura was running really fast, or her head was _tough. _

* * *

"_Pfft_, she _bumped_ into you!" Naruto laughed out loud," _Man_, Sasuke, that's the most amazing bull crap I've heard_."_

Sasuke glared hard past the Hokage's face, staring at the horizon view of the village behind him in an attempt to not punch his old teammate out the window. He thought if he stared at Naruto's laughing red expression too long, he would commit murder.

Yesterday, on his way home to wash up and change after his cousin-in-law dragged him out of the hospital, Naruto had seen a frowning Sasuke carrying a knocked-out Sakura in his arms. His reaction was a gaping mouth. Sasuke had passed him by, purposefully ignoring Naruto's dumbfounded face as he looked straight ahead and walked at a calm pace. Naruto knew about the tangible tension between his only teammates and knew that Sakura would not have let Sasuke touch her without a fight.

So a limp Sakura in that guy's arms fed to Naruto's many imaginations. He didn't notice that Sasuke had quietly run off before he could ask him any questions about what really happened.

Therefore, Naruto summoned Sasuke to his office the next day, and Sasuke grudgingly told the truth. Naruto was still chuckling to himself.

"So, then, what happened?" An evil grin spread on his bright face, expecting an amusing answer.

"I placed her down on her couch, and left."

"…That's it? Nuh uh."

Sasuke kept glaring out the window.

"Come on, you naughty bastard; I _know _Kakashi-sensei's pervertedness rubbed off on you the minute I saw the collection of orange books in your apartment two years ago. I'm sure Sakura-chan wouldn't mind it if you showed off some of the moves you learned." He paused "Hell, she might even prefer it if she was _conscious._"

"Those were your books, you punk."

"I have Hinata now, man! Why read books when I got the real thing? And dude. I don't own the special edition of volume eight."

"Ka...Kakashi slipped that in there."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Like you ever minded. Okay, fine, if you wanna avoid…it all." He sighed at the paperwork in front of him, briefly considering pushing them aside for the day and leaving them in Sakura's care. And then he remembered that she was on her vacation.

Naruto instead, stared back up to Sasuke and frowned at his face.

"But what the hell is up with the black eye?"

The door behind Sasuke suddenly opened. "Oh, that was my bad; I saw his face the minute I woke up, and my fist suddenly had a mind of its own."

Sasuke scowled, "I hardly think saying 'Fuck off' right afterwards was due to your fist's brain."

She stared coolly at him "You were too close for comfort, jerk."

"Sakura," Naruto commanded quickly, noting the intense black cloud of tension forming in the air when Sakura had abruptly and surprisingly entered the room. "Er, what are you doing here? You're tempting me to order you to take care of these boring stacks of paper."

Engaging in a battle of eye glaring between her and Uchiha, she calmly said "I'm on vacation, remember, Hokage-sama?"

"So get the hell out," Sasuke gritted quietly under his breath. Naruto sighed when he saw a green sheen starting to cover Sakura's clenching fists and Sasuke's hand inching towards his sword.

"Yup, Sakura, I know that very much!" He cheerfully said, casually glaring warning signs at Sasuke to _get that hand away from the katana and to just shut up._ He quickly strode over to where they both stood, and placed a hand on both of their shoulders.

He grinned, preferring to ignore the murdering intent from two of the loveliest people he knew in his life.

"Sakura-chan, since you're so into this whole vacation thing, let's all have lunch at Ichiraku!"

* * *

Hinata looked uneasily at the stack of leftover food from Ichiraku, and then turned her eyes to her discouraged husband. He sulked gloomily in his chair beside her bed, head in her lap and sighing every five seconds. She gently patted his head, smoothing down his stubborn blonde locks. Earlier, she was surprised that he was able to come to the hospital early, due to the fact that he had missed most of his meeting with the Kazekage in Suna, but he explained that he shouldn't leave her alone for too long, especially after giving birth. He reasoned that Neji would probably take care of the paperwork for him.

Hinata smiled and whispered, "Then what's got you so down?"

He sighed again, "Well, first off, I totally spent a lot of money paying for noodles that weren't ever going to be eaten. Secondly, you're still in this hospital—"

She endearingly tried glaring at him for being second on his list, but he had kissed her quickly after saying that and continued, mumbling into her lap.

"—And the entire reason why my noodles weren't eaten would be because these two little kindergarten children can't just freaking forgive each other for something that happened _years _ago and this whole game of playing cat and mouse is pretty darn ridiculous, so HINATAA-CHAAAN, whatshouldIdoooooo?"

She blinked. "Kindergarten children?"

"The blossom and the bastard."

She grew somber, wrapping her arms around Naruto as much as she could. Words died on both of their lips as they both hugged each other in an understanding silence.

Naruto broke the silence with a raspy whisper, filled with sadness.

"We're so damn lucky…"

"If it ever happened between us, Naruto-kun," Hinata quietly said," If it had happened to Hikari-chan, I don't know what—"

A sob broke out of her, leading him to sit up and fully hug her. He slid out of his chair and onto a space on the edge of her bed, hugging her tightly. "But she didn't. No, she's healthy. She's strong. _You're _strong," he murmured into her ear, "And I love you for that."

"I-I think I'm a-about t-to faint."

He spared a glance at the heartbeat machine, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Nah, your heart's just pumping really fast."

"Y-you're r-r-really close, dear…"

He wouldn't let her see it, but Naruto's grin grew wider as he stared at the heartbeat machine ,"Really? I can't imagine, seeing as how we were _really_ close the night Hikari even came into existence. Damn, that was one _nice_ night."

He would have burst out laughing when he realized he didn't need the machine anymore as he felt her pulse quicken stronger and his wife growing very warm.

"I wonder," he continued and felt her stiffen," where your very _nice_ clothing went after that nigh—"

"_Naruto!"_

Naruto kissed her red cheek playfully "I'm kidding, I'm kidding, don't get a heart attack and—_whoa, _you have never, ever, looked at me like that. That's…a really scary look, Hinata-chan. I'm sorry—YEAH, I'M REALLY SORRY, LET GO, OW OW OW OW."

She stopped twisting his nose and pouted, still bright red from remembering the one night Naruto very eloquently mentioned. He massaged his nose, sighing.

"That hurt."

"So did labor." She huffed.

He couldn't argue back, and settled for the next best thing; sitting back down on the chair and laying his head on her lap. When she realized he had let her win, she tickled him as punishment.

Laughing, he said, "Oh man, your flat stomach feels so weird."

"Naruto-kun!" She giggled, swatting him lightly out of embarrassment," By the way, our daughter is five pounds and ten inches tall. And Shizune-san said we can take her home today."

Suddenly he perked right back up, looking at his wife with a goofy grin on his face, "Really?"

Before she could nod, he attacked her with a kiss.

Shizune looked from the view of the laughing couple. She and Tenten were right outside of Hinata's hospital room, barely hearing Naruto's loud and happy mirth echoing down the hallways.

Tenten closed the door that Shizune was very tempted to open.

"You can't. Not right now," Tenten said quietly. Across from them, Neji glared at her.

"They have. To know." He said in clipped words.

She snuck a glance at the happy Hokage and his wife, "I don't…I don't want to ruin it _now, _Neji. Look at them. We can tell them tomorrow."

"They go home today." Shizune grimly stared at her, "He needs to know; Tenten-san, he's the Hokage, for crying out loud."

A gut feeling, a very ill and foreboding feeling rose up in Tenten.

"I…okay. Okay."

* * *

"Why are you bothering me so _much_, lately!? Go back to ignoring me. We both like it that way, and you know it—Oh, great, lovely, the sun is setting. Goodbye, my last hours of total, torture-filled, _angsty _vacation. "

She had practically screamed the last word out, but she had been speaking so much the past few hours that 'vacation' came out as a mangled, broken, hoarse noise. Sakura's hand flew to her throat. She looked at the ginger sky and glared up at it, misdirecting her hatred to the streams of light that were about to disappear in a few minutes.

Sasuke, standing casually some ways beside her, tried to ignore the ongoing stream of tears going down her cheeks. He'd seen the same sight so many times. And he knew it was always because of him.

"Koichi or Hikari?"

First, Sakura's face turned angry and red. She was about to scream at him out of frustration and fatigue. This was supposed to be a day of rest for her, and he had to come showing up on her doorstep to mess it all up. But as the question started making sense, she gave in to answering him.

"Hikari," She tiredly whispered. "Hinata gave birth to a beautiful baby girl."

She closed her eyes. She hadn't meant to sound so wistful, but she was so emotionally overwhelmed that every feeling she felt must be out and clear to Sasuke. She had already given up on hiding her tears.

Sakura turned to him, head pounding and light diminishing every second, "Look, Sasuke."

Sasuke raised his head, every emotion shut from his face and from his body movement.

"I'm out. You hear me? I'm tired of this. We've been at this for three years straight now. I don't care anymore. I'm going to forget all about that happened, starting from the day you left me on the bench, to the day you came back, from the day you said you loved me, to the day our child died."

He scowled and looked away, wanting to hear no more.


End file.
